Swelter

by D. Jackson Leigh

She pulled him into a hug and whispered into his ear. “Still, you guys are like family to me. And to Teal, too. Thank you.” When she released him, his face was an even deeper red.

  “I’ve got some cows to check on if I’m going to be gone most of tomorrow,” he said, backing down the steps and whirling to head off to the barn.

  Hawk chuckled. “You know he’s got a little case of hero worship where you’re concerned, don’t you?”

  She watched the posse of law-enforcement vehicles drive off and pointed at Hawk. “And you, I owe you a big thanks, too.”

  “I’ve known BJ since I was a kid. The only way he was going to drown was if I did first.”

  “I’m not taking about that. I’m talking about in the canyon. The hawk was you, wasn’t it?”

  He cocked his head, his expression amused. “You believe those stories BJ tells about skin-walkers? Maybe the heat and exhaustion were playing tricks with your mind.”

  “I don’t think so.” She hugged him, too. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Teal stopped on the steps, and August held her hand out for her to join them but locked gazes with Hawk.

  “I had given up. I was too tired to climb another inch,” she said. “Then the cry of the hawk made me look up, and I saw The White Paw standing where I needed to be. I remembered Gus telling me a story about the half-wolf with one white paw that befriended a young rancher lost and injured in those mountains.”

  Hawk nodded. “He and Julio tried to make a pet out of him, but The White Paw had other ideas. He’d come visit but never stayed long because he had a mate in the canyons.”

  August looked toward the red mountains of Caprock. “Julio swore he saw him again when old Gus died, but it had to be grief or wishful thinking. That old wolf would have had to be forty years old. Maybe it was one of his offspring. Maybe that’s what I saw, too.”

  “Maybe.” They both knew it wasn’t an offspring. The truth was in Hawk’s eyes before he turned and walked down the steps.

  August crutched toward the door Teal held open for her, then stopped to call after Hawk. “I forgot to ask Pierce. What happened to the guy chasing me?”

  Hawk turned back to face her. “Cobra? The DEA guys had to almost scrape him off the canyon floor. He’d been trampled.” He climbed into the Gator and started it.

  Trampled? She was sure she’d wished it, imagined it, dreamed it. “Wait.” She hobbled to the edge of the porch. “That’s not possible, Hawk. You and I both know the park’s bison herd is fenced on the south side of the park. There’s no way they could have been in that north canyon.”

  “Did I say it was bison?” One corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile. “Funny thing, the park rangers searched and couldn’t find any break in the fence or buffalo running around in the north part of the park when they searched later. They decided it must have been some rancher’s longhorns illegally grazing on state property, and those city boys flying the DEA helicopter just thought they were bison.”

  August watched him drive toward the bunkhouse. “Pretty hard to confuse a longhorn with a buffalo.”

  *

  August was trembling with fatigue by the time Teal got her inside and stripped of her splint and clothes. She quickly peeled off her own clothes and shouldered under August’s arm to help her hop into the walk-in shower. She tried to ignore the feel of August’s skin against hers, but her blood quickened all the same at the intimate contact. August’s groan as she leaned back under the warm water was a jolt of sensation that shot straight to Teal’s core and left her throbbing.

  The two days they’d spent on the run and the past four days August had spent in the hospital seemed like an eternity. But August was injured, so Teal pushed down her need to work shampoo into August’s hair, then soap a bath cloth while August tilted her head back to rinse. Teal began with her shoulders, scrubbing gently down her back, then stepping around to soap each of her arms. She bit her lip and fought the urge to linger on August’s breasts and turgid nipples. She knelt to wash her left leg, then carefully around the wounds on her right.

  “Teal.” August’s voice was tight and urgent.

  Teal stood and held the cloth out. Rather than take it, August grasped Teal’s hand and guided it to the one place she hadn’t yet touched. Teal closed her eyes when August moaned. “I’ve missed your touch so much.”

  “Baby, you’re hurt.”

  “I’m hurting, but not where you think.” August wrapped a hand behind Teal’s neck and drew her close to capture her mouth. August’s tongue and mouth tasted of mint toothpaste, but Teal lingered only a moment before breaking the kiss. “Let’s finish this in the bed.” Teal gasped when August slid her fingers over her swollen clit.

  “I need you now,” August said. “I’m so close.”

  Teal wrapped an arm around August to hold her up and matched her stroke for stroke. Pleasure gathered in her groin. “Can’t…hold out…much longer.” Orgasm caught her mid-breath and August trembled in her arms, then stiffened.

  “Teal, baby, oh God, oh.” August slumped against her, and Teal held her up for a few long moments.

  “The water’s getting cold. We need to get you in bed,” Teal said, contradicting her words by tightening her arms around August.

  “It’s okay. I think I heard sizzling a moment ago. Maybe a little cold water will cool us off.”

  “I don’t ever want what’s between us to cool.” Teal clutched August tighter.

  August’s laugh rumbled through her chest. “Are you kidding? You thought this sweltering heat was just Texas weather? This heat wave is us, baby. And that’s never going to change.”

  THE END

  About the Author

  D. Jackson Leigh grew up barefoot and happy, swimming in farm ponds and riding rude ponies in rural south Georgia. Her passion for writing led her to a career in journalism and North Carolina where she edits news at night and writes lesbian romance stories with a bit of Southern humor by day.

  She has published nine novels and one collection of short stories with Bold Strokes Books, winning three Golden Crown Literary Society awards in paranormal, romance, and fantasy categories. She also was a finalist in the romance category of the 2014 Lambda Literary Society Awards.

  Friend her at facebook.com/d.jackson.leigh, follow her on twitter @djacksonleigh, and check her out at djacksonleigh.com.

  Other D. Jackson Leigh Titles Available Via Amazon

  Books Available from Bold Strokes Books

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  Swelter by D. Jackson Leigh. Teal Giovanni’s mistake shines an unwanted spotlight on a small Texas ranch where August Reese is secluded until she can testify against a powerful drug kingpin. (978-1-62639-795-8)

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